The seeds of fate
by CarlaRadames025670
Summary: Fate always presents us with surprises. It divides the world into black and white with shades of gray. On the one hand, someone says that you can not change fate. On the other hand, someone says that we are to decide the destinies. Is that true? Can someone turn it as he wants? So let's see whether Lord Shen find a glimmer of light in the darkness and overcome the trials of fate.
1. Prologue

(Edited)

** Prologue****  
**  
Po and his friends just defeated Lord Shen and enjoyed their victory with citizens of Gongmen City. Nevertheless, the true story has just begun.

Not far from destroyed ships and happy parties a lonely figure has been carrying by the flow of the current.

This figure is no other than defeated warlord, lord of Gongmen City, and snowy white peacock, Shen.

Lying on the seaside, the bird was beaten and barely alive. When his consciousness finally returned to him the only thing he could feel was pain of his broken body and big headache.

"What's happening? Where am I? Am I dead? Then why do I hurt so much?" thought Shen. Every move was so painful that he could barely breathe. After a moment of confusion, he understood that he was still alive after cannon crushed him. Memories of not long before came to him, memory of his destiny, of his actions, of his hard past, and of his supposed death.

Finally after long silence and thoughts, the first words emerged out of bird's beak, like a barely heard whisper, "So fate was so cruel to continue my torments. What am I supposed to do right now?"  
It was his one and only thought. His headache became worse. Then, unexpectedly, he heard the sound of footsteps. Suddenly, he became very dizzy and was about to lose consciousness. Everything become black and the last thing he heard was someone coming towards him.

**At this time in Gongmen City…**

Po and the Furious Five were in the middle of the fight against remainder of Shen's army and some komodo dragons. Their battles were finished by the end of the day. Their successes were followed by a ceremony of their rewards.

"Cool, we save the city twice in one day!" said Po, "That's just awesome!"

Others from the five agreed with him. While their victory was on their minds, they didn't anticipate the difficult journey that awaits them.

**On the other side of country in the capital of China...**

The Emperor was sitting on his throne. He was a colorful peacock with clear blue eyes.

"So by your words he is some kind of murderer and criminal that wanted to conquer our country. Then why did you bring him here and help him rather than throw him in a torture chamber for his crimes, where he should have waited for his execution," he said.

A little shorter figure that stood beside the emperor answered "Don't worry father. Just trust me, I know what I am doing…at least I hope I am."

"Please don't make me regret my choice, daughter."

The figure nodded and left.

**At that moment somewhere our main avian character has awakened…**

Shen looked around the room and took notice of his surroundings. He was in an unknown dark place, lit only by a few candles. He saw that his wounds and injuries had been treated. It was much better for him to move now and less painful as well, but he was still tired.

The sound of opening door caught his attention. The figure walked in the room. "Ah, I see you have awakened, Shen," said a sweet feminine voice.

The albino bird stared at the intruder.  
"Who are you?" Asked Shen in firm and angry voice.

The female smiled.

"You know, you caused a quite ruckus in Gongmen," The figure said, ignoring the peacock's question, what made him frown at her.

"However, the Emperor was kind enough to give you forgiveness for all of your crimes, thanks to me of course."

A stunned silence filed the room.

Slowly, Shen started to panic "Where am I? Who are you and what do you want from me?!"

He couldn't find his knives, not a single one of them. He also noticed that he didn't have his metal talons on him, exposing his burned scars for everyone to see. The figure then came into the light of candle. It was gorgeous peahen with beautiful blue eyes, clear as the brightest sky. She has colorful neck with shades of blue and green. She could be rightfully regarded as the most beautiful of her species. Shen was stunned for a moment and then a scent of flowers and peaches filled the air around him. The peahen was very young, a mere child, a girl of sixteen years. She wore an expensive purple robe and necklace with some jewels. Shen was sure that she really was a sight to behold.

The female bird smiled cockily at him, saying, "You are in the capital of China, to be specific, in the Royal Palace of the Emperor. It's hospital wing to be exact. You were quite a mess when I found you. As for who I am…my name is Lian. I am the daughter of the Emperor."

"What? You are Emperor's daughter. What is the meaning all of this? Why would someone like you help me?" demanded the peacock.

"My, my such temper," continued the peahen in a playful voice, ignoring Shen once again, "Can't you be a little calmer, sweet?"

Shen humphed in anger. How dare that brat mock him!

"Why you little…" began Shen before being quickly and rudely interrupted.

"Oh, don't need to be such a grouch. I am trying to help you. In fact, I am your one and only friend right now."

"I do not need your help."

"Is that so? Because by the look of it you need some serious help."

The only answer the girl got was a snort in her direction.

Lian sighted, "I know what you did, Shen. And somehow I understand why you did what you did. But, I must say, I do not approve of your idea to conquer China. I can understand that you wanted to return the city that was your by birthright, but don't you think that China is too big a piece of cake for you to swallow?"

"You don't know anything about me, brat!"

"You think so? I know much more than you believe, Shen. I hope that you already prepared for the game we will play."

"A game? What game? Do you even understand what you are saying?" began Shen, thinking that the girl had lost it.

"Yes, the game of oblivion, intrigue, betrayal, deception and intelligence. We have a long road ahead of us. Are you ready?" asked Lian looking straight into his eyes.

The firm gaze was all she needed to know the answer.

"Good…I'll leave you for now. Just rest. A servant will be nearby if you need something, so just call. And try not to move very much, your wounds are still fresh and can reopen very easy," said the peahen, opening the door and leaving the room, but stopping for a moment and looking back at him. Their eyes meet once again. They stood in silence for some minutes, looking at each other. Then she left, closing the door.

**In the hall of the Palace…**

Lian walked along the corridor and turned the corner. Against the wall she closed her eyes and sighed. She heard footsteps, coming closer and then a goat approached her.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Nice…I think."

"Do you even realize what you are doing by allying with this bird?"

"I have a pretty good idea," answered Lian as she started to leave, "It was a long and exhausting day. I would like to go to bed."

And so they went their separate ways.

**In the treatment room…**

Shen was still thinking about Emperor's daughter and her words. He must admit she was quite attractive and mature for her age. But what was she planning? Shen decided not to think about it and follow the advice of peahen. He closed his eyes and welcomed long-awaited sleep.

**In Lian's room…**

It was night, the glowing moon hanging high in the clear, dark sky. Moonlight fell on her fine feathers, illuminating her lovely face. She was looking at the night sky.

"I hope we will be ready for everything fate has in store for us," she whispered to the night.

After that she closed the window and went to bed.

Getting into bed, she blew out the candle and the room was plunged into darkness.

A/N: Hey guys! JubJub0250 here! I'm not the esteemed author of this story, but I am the editor so you can thank me for little to none spelling and grammar mistakes. Enjoy the story!


	2. The seed of treachery

**The seed of treachery**

The ceremony was in full swing.

Many guests from different provinces had gathered for the event declared by the Emperor himself.

Higher nobility had received an invitation to the party by the head of one of the strongest powers. Who in their right mind would reject such a one nice offer?

Banquet was held in the great hall of the Imperial Palace.

The gala reception, represents the similarity masquerade ball, is collected a great number of notable and influential people not only from China, but also the neighboring countries. This meeting was attended by many different species of animals. There were ducks, peacocks, swans, eagles, sheep, goats, rabbits, tigers, lions, some snakes and a few courtiers servants, such as rhinos, wolves and jackals, who are guards tonight. Servants bustled around the room, trying to serve and to please every guest. All present were dressed in various outfits, from luxury fashion to clown costumes, such as the rich kimonos, dresses and robes. Certainly everyone has masks. One had the usual white, gold or black masks, hiding their faces. Others had masks of different demonic beings or some monsters. The last one wore masks of different animals. Tables, filled with all sorts of different food and drinks, stood around the hall. Some guests were eating delicacies of imperial kitchen. Someone went and examined the decor of the palace. Many talked among themselves about the past days, about reception or discussed, existing at this moment, the political situation with groceries of wine.

At the end of the hall was a huge throne, from which one could see all. There sat the royal family. The Emperor himself talked about his affairs with approximate generals. Shen was standing near him. He was dressed in a white robe with a white mask made out of feathers and some kind of silks. His metal talons ones again hid his scars. The avian was deep in thought. Finally he achieved his dream. Despite this, he did not give rest to the thoughts about young peahen, who gave him the opportunity to achieve what he has always wanted.

It is a week since as the future heir to the throne helped him.

A lot of things have happened lately.

**One week ago...**

**In Gongmen City...**

The new day has just begun.

It was morning so everyone just got up and started to do their things. Little by little, the city became filled with aura of happiness. A few people were on the street. Recently occurred woes were still fresh in their memory. However, many residents have tried to throw out the memories of those misfortunes that happened to them. Citizens tried not to think about the hardships they had to endure, not to think about the bandits that attacked them and not think of a peacock that has brought them so much grief, misery and suffering. They thought that all finally get better, that their suffering behind them, that they no longer have to suffer from the tyranny of peafowl and that they no longer see him.

How wrong they were...

Po and Furious Five just woke up and went to eat at the inn in which they were lodged by Master's Council.

Master Shifu went to deal with matters related to the recent events.

Warriors were going to leave and have already started to collect their belongings.

After all was ready, they were to await the return of their master at the entrance to the hotel.

"How long do we have to wait? I'm tired." Po said, referring to near standing.

"You just ate more than half of the food, provided to us, alone and you still have the audacity to complain about something." Tigress said grumpily.

"Oh well, the food was so little. I'm hungry again." Po continued to bother Tigress.

"It's not surprising that you have such a big belly, you can shove in as much food as a bottomless barrel." Monkey tried to joke.

"Hey!" Panda protested.

"He's right you really need to eat less." Mantis added.

"Don't listen to them. They are just jealous of your coolness." Viper got into a conversation, trying to help a friend with bullies.

"Yes I know. Anyone would be envy of my title of Dragon Warrior and my awesomeness." Po said proudly.

Others rolled their eyes.

"Do none of you have such a feeling that something bad is going to happen?" Crane asked casually.

"No, why? Is something wrong?" Tigress answered.

"Just asking." avian said.

"Listen if something bad happens, we'll deal with that as always. We will beat the bad guys and save the situation. We take them all together, and I have them, and then BAM, and I'll be just like WOW, and..." Po began to say.

"What is it?" Tigress interrupted Po, looking away.

The crowd suddenly began to move aside, as if to give a pass to someone important. And then appeared some soldiers dressed in silver samurai armor. They were also armed with samurai swords. Their faces were hidden by demonic masks. But you can immediately guess that they were wolves. Fighters prepared for battle and were on the alert. Suddenly, two falcons landed near them. Birds were dressed in red robes with gold emblem depicted on their backs. Almost all present immediately recognized emblem golden bird with two heads. It was the coat of arms of the Emperor. Furious Five relaxed, but Po just followed their example, not understanding what is happening.

Despite this, the royal guards didn't look friendly.

"Who are they?" Po whispered to Tigress.

It seemed that the wolves were carrying something like a marquee. It was a luxurious design, decorated with images of peacocks in the form of silver and gold. Imperial flag was waving on top of this construction. Someone was hiding behind a shed in the shade.

"They are the guards of the royal palace. But what are they doing here?" Feline also whispered.

Imperial Guard put a tent right in front of the Kung Fu fighters. Edge of someone's blue wing pushed the fabric of the tent, opening the view inside.

"Maybe they are our reinforcements or some help for the city." Po said.

"Then it seems that these guys weren't in a hurry to come here." Tiger said with some kind of disdain.

There were three figures inside the tent. One of them was a bird that pushed the curtain open to look outside. Two others were impossible to recognize, because of the darkness inside. Cloth fell back into place. For some time there was silence. Than the jackal clad in golden armor on his chest, waist, elbows and knees with red loincloth came to light from the tent. His muzzle was hidden by a gold mask, resembling a bird's beak. Then another one came out too. They stood on either side of the marquee. The bird came last. It was a simple peacock mostly blue in color with a fitting blue robe. The bird's name was Shenlong. He was one of the imperial generals and personal messenger of the Emperor. Peafowl had a scowl of disgust on his face, when he stepped out on the street. Inhabitants tensed seeing the avian as they didn't want to re-connect with peacocks ever again.

"What are we doing in this trash hole?" Shenlong muttered to himself, "Why me?"

In his wing was a scroll with a seal of the Emperor, which he opened and read. He looked at the warriors and then at the scroll again. Slowly he lifted his leg and snapped his talons.

In no time at all samurai soldiers surrounded Kung Fu masters, droving their katana and pointing at them.

Now again on the defense the masters were puzzled about this situation.

"What are you doing?" Tigress demanded.

"Masters of Jade Palace…" Peacock began to read the contents of the scroll "Master Shifu, Master Crane, Master Viper, Master Tigress, Master Mantis, Master Monkey and panda Po, bearing the title of Dragon Warrior of the Valley of Peace, you all are under arrest and charged with treason against your country. Come with us willingly otherwise we will be forced to take actions."

After these words everyone was in shock.

"WHAT!" shouted Po "It can't be right. Are you sure that you have read it right?"

Po began to take away the scroll from the peacock, for which, the jackal standing next to the bird, hit panda in the face with his forehead. He bounced back in surprise but his friends caught him in time before he could fall and hit the ground.

"Something is wrong. We always just try to help. Who in their right mind would accuse us of betraying? Before you have to respond the one who decided to make such a cruel joke." Tigress said.

"I don't think so. In the end I got the order personally from the Emperor himself." Shenlong said.

Five didn't know what to say to this. They were at a loss.

"You got it wrong. We are heroes and we help those who need our help. We saved this town from bandits and mad peacock not long ago." Po said.

During mention of the bird jackals and peacock exchanged glances, which were not unnoticed by Po.

"You know the white peacock that built cannon, which spitting metal, and wanted to conquer the whole China." In panda there was hope that the royal messenger finally realized that the masters were right.

"I…" peacock started, turning to the side of the tower of the Sacred Flame, which already started to rebuild, "…don't know what you are talking about." He smiled and went to the tower. Nearby jackal followed him while other remained standing where he was.

Hearing these words, panda lost hope that he has before. Speechless silence regained.

Continuing along the way, Shenlong said in calm, but loud enough voice so that it can be heard.

"Go."

After this one word all hell broke loose, when soldiers attacked six Kung Fu masters.

**In Peking…**

Shen has just awakened. His wounds were almost healed. But despite this, he still was a little hard to walk. With little effort, he tried to get out of bed. He had only stood on the floor as someone knocked on the door and then entered in the room. It was a goose.

"Good morning, Lord Shen. I see you're awake, yet I must say that you have to forgive me for disturbing you. You see, her Majesty wants to see you. Please put on new clothes and then I'll take you to her Royal Highness. By the way, my name is Delun. If you need anything, you can address me at any time." said young man, handing him a set of new clothes.

"Delun; what an appropriate name, signifying a virtuous order." thought Shen, "well…"

"Well… as you say, servant boy." said Shen, taking new clothes and began to consider it.

It was exactly the same white robe that he wore. Then he looked at the boy, who stared at him in returned without blinking. For some moments it was like that.

"Well…" Shen said at last.

Servant knew immediately what peacock wanted from him.

"Please forgive me, I bring my deepest apologies for the fact that my presence bother you." Delun said, turning and leaving the room, "I'll leave you alone and wait outside the door."

After the goose left Shen changed in clean clothes. Collected his thoughts, he, trying to ignore the slight pain, pranced toward the exit of the room. The goose stood in the hallway, waiting for him.

"Please follow me." said Delun, when he saw the bird opening the door.

Boy led him to some room and knocked at the door.

"Who is it?" said a soft and familiar voice.

"My noble lady, I brought him as you requested." answered servant.

"Oh good, let him come. You are free to go." said Lian's voice.

"Good day to you, Lady Lian, and you too, Lord Shen." said Delun and left.

Shen stood for a moment, looking at the door, and then entered.

**A few moments earlier…**

**In Lian's room…**

Lian woke up as soon as the sun has risen.

She can already see on the horizon appeared a red stripe. Already see the dawn began. The sun slowly rises over the tops of the trees.

Today she decided to wear a black robe with gold patterns. Firstly she ate quickly. Then she sent a servant to check their guest and to deal with other small things. Finished with that, she started to deal with her own affairs. Despite her young age, she had a lot of work to do. It could be said that she alone was engaged in nobility affairs, policy, military and a lot of other nonsense for royalty, from which she became dizzy. She sat down at the table, where there were a variety of papers among them the most distinguished were several piles of paper fastened together. It was dossiers on different people, collected by her spies. She took the first one.

"Hum... The Dragon Warrior" said Lian, reading the information. Yes, a big fat panda, which purely by chance became the Dragon Warrior. He defeated Tai Lung, not argue with that, but he still can't be threaten as the greatest Kung Fu warrior, but as a simple fatty panda. Well, think, defeated the snow leopard. Just think, before him bent almost all the Valley of Peace. He's just a panda, who loves to eat, sleep, and never thinks about nothing! And by the looks of things, he is very stupid... Just reading about him already pisses me off. And I doubt that my opinion on him ever changes.

Since childhood, her future as regent taught her almost everything that can be, including Kung Fu. It can't be said that she is perfect, but still she can punch quite well and even challenge the skills of a master.

She put the book back and took the next one.

"Viper…" She came to the Jade Palace with her father. Snake destroyed flocks of crocodiles and robbers. I wonder what might be lurking under the guise of a harmless innocent creature.

Next one was about insect.

"Mantis…" Mantis, though he is small, but strong. It hadn't been known how he got into the Jade Palace. Mantis is a secretive bug. He tells nothing or doesn't want to tell. I already know almost his entire life story, but don't know how he got into the Jade Palace. At first he can't be taken seriously, but bug proved fast, smart and strong. By the way, he was too strong, "I still didn't have enough passion to contact with small insects."

"Monkey…" Monkey to me looks like panda. The same naivety, the same fun, the same stupidity, "Another moron."

"Tigress…" She is strong, purposeful, pretending that she doesn't care, hiding her true feelings under cold stone mask, "It seems that our mutual friend is very attached to you."

"Master Shifu…" Lian became a little thoughtful, "Later, for now I have much important matters to attend to."

She fumbled a bit in the papers and took the necessary one.

"Ah, Master Crane…" Crane was able to effortlessly pass an obstacle course at the rhinos and bulls, which could not overcome any warrior. And then he came to Shifu to learn Kung Fu. He looks fragile and shy, but in truth he is much stronger than that. Moreover, it looks like he wrote letters to someone, "I wonder if the choice will appear in front of him whom he chooses: his girlfriend, who prompted him to implement his dreams or friends, with whom he fought side by side and who will not abandon him in his hour. You can be useful to us."

Putting aside the papers, she sighed and went to the balcony of her room to watch the calm sky and to gather her thoughts. A few minutes of tranquility helped her. It seems nothing can destroy this idyll.

Suddenly, there was a knock.

"Who is it?" Lian asked in calm voice.

"My noble lady, I brought him as you requested." answered the voice of her loyal servant.

"Oh good, let him come. You are free to go." She said.

"Good day to you, Lady Lian, and you too, Lord Shen." Delun said once again.

Moment early Shen came in.

"Hello Shen, you are already up. I wondered if you could give the lie for another day." said Lian in playful voice.

"Greeting you too… Lian." said Shen politely, pretending to be a proud nobleman. He will lie, if he says he doesn't feel some connection with a young peahen from yesterday, "I don't often say this but still thank you for helping me. I think I own you this one."

She arched an eyebrow questioningly. "Is that so? I did't expect to hear something like that from you. You seem in the mood to talk today, aren't you?"

"Don't get used to it." murmured Shen. "So why did you want to see me?"

Lian was looking at him for some time and then she said, "I must say you fascinate me in some way."

Their eyes met, when they look at each other.

"Come, I want to show you to my daddy." She said and then went past him.

Shen blinked a couple of times and then followed her.

"Am I in trouble?" asked Shen quietly.

"What? No, I just want to show my father that you're not as crazy as everyone saying. So behave yourself. You know how to behave with the royal family, aren't you?" Lian said jokingly.

"Of course, I am a part of royal family too. I am Lord of Gongmen City. Well formal Lord for now, but that will soon change. That's I promise." Shen's voice started to become a little darker.

"We of royal blood have cases with princes and princesses, kings and queens, and many other individuals from different titles. By the way, do you think the title of Baron above the title of Lord, hmm?"

Lian looked at Shen over her shoulder. He seems to be lost in thought and doesn't hear her question. She didn't want to disturb him and continued on their way. At the end, they came to their destination.

"So, we are here." she said, interrupting Shen's thoughts and opening the door to the dining room. "I am sure you are hungry so at the same time you can eat something."

**In Gongmen City…**

Fighters were struggling to cope with piles of enemies, attacking them. Surprisingly, the most difficult was the only one jackal that despite the fact that he mostly remained on the sidelines yet could easily be compared with the forces of masters and even suppressed them, when he interfered in the fight. They had no choice but to escape from the battlefield and from the city. So they fled in disgrace from government forces as if some criminals and they didn't see that one of them wasn't with them any longer.

Nearby in the alley, Master Crane lay on the ground unconscious. Two falcons were beside him. He wasn't injured seriously, but it looks like he fell from a great height. Birds began to shackle him in chains.

**In the dining room…**

The room was large. Long table stood in the middle of the room, at the end of which sat an old peacock in goodly apparel. On either side of him were plates of different food for someone, who hasn't come yet. Looks like it had been cooked for them and it was they, who were late. Lian went along one side of the table, while Shen went to the other. They sat down to their seats so that Shen was on the right wing of the Emperor and Lian on the left, facing each other.

"Good to see you in good health, father." said Lian, referring to the Emperor.

"Good to see you too, my dear." said Emperor Zengsheng (his name means "government may increase").

Then his eyes fall on Shen.

"Greetings to you, my Emperor. I also wish you good health and peaceful prosperity." said Shen firmly.

"I must say this is unexpected to hear such good-natured wishes of the one, who would like to see me dead." said Zengsheng, disapprovingly looking at the peacock.

"Father, don't say such horrible things. Shen wishes you no harm." got in conversation Lian, "Shen, this is my father, Emperor Zengsheng. Dad, this is Lord Shen of Gongmen City, the same peacock I tell you so much about."

"I think he wouldn't case us any trouble, would he?" asked Emperor.

"No, I wouldn't sir. You can be sure of it." Shen assured him.

"That's good to hear." said Lian's father.

"You see, Shen is our ally. He can even help us with our military, can't you, Lord Shen?" said Lian to Shen.

"Help your military? And what am I suppose to do?" asked Shen.

"It's very simple. I heard you have invented a miracle weapon during your travels in your exile. Why do you not go back to your hobby?" she said.

"So you want my cannons?" he asked, slightly displeased with the idea that someone wants to usurp his creations.

All this time, the Emperor looked at both of them, from his daughter to the defeated Lord and back again.

"Want, you say? No, I already have it. Just don't want such a talented person like you to spend your potential into empty air." she answered.

"And what am I benefit from this?" said white peafowl.

"You are a criminal. Where will you go? Everyone will hunt for you, but we offer you protection. Help us and you will not regret it." said young lady, "You can get what you always wanted and even more."

"Well I don't want to interrupt you, but I've got to do other very important things. See you around. Hopefully you don't mess things up, especially you, Shen." said old bird, standing and leaving the room.

"So why do you really need me?" said Shen, after elder peacock left.

**In Gongmen City…**

Peacock and jackal just came to the gate, leading to the tower, where they were stopped by antelope guards. Spears were pointed at them, when the guards saw unknown intruders approaching. But two kept going as if nothing had happened.

"Let us pass!" blue bird said with contempt, if they were trash not worthy of his attention.

He showed them a scroll with a seal of the Emperor. They were a little taken aback, but did not argue with someone with authority that was given by the Emperor himself, so they opened the gates and the two entered the courtyard of tower.

Three masters discussed the upcoming restoring of the city. Unexpectedly, gate opened and they turned to see two newcomers heading to them. The first one was a strange tall jackal in golden armor. The second one was a peacock with a sullen look on his face. Seeing peacock, masters narrowed their eyes. Recently they began to consider peafowl a bad sign, foreshadowing troubles. Masters Croc and Ox still haven't recovered from the death of their comrade and friend Master Thundering Rhino.

"Who are you?" demanded Master Storming Ox.

"Someone, whom you should have more respect, worm." said peacock in return.

Master Ox humped in anger, "Here don't honored peacocks, due to the recent events that took place here."

"It doesn't matter. You and the people now have a little to decide. From now on Master's Council is disbanded." said bird with smug smirk.

"What!" exclaimed Masters, "What are you saying? Who do you think you are?"

"I am Shenlong, personal messenger of the Emperor and one of his loyal generals. Master Storming Ox and Master Croc, you removed from this city management responsibility."

"Based on what exactly?" asked Croc.

"For two reasons…" said peafowl, lifting one of his wing's feathers, "Firstly, it's an order of the Emperor…" peacock lifted second feather of his wing, "…and secondly, Council shall consist of the three masters and I see only two, which is not acceptable."

"I am master too. Am I having no right in this matter?" said Shifu.

"Ah, I almost forgot that you and your students are under arrest, Master Shifu. Go with us willingly or we shall be compelled to use force. By the way, master, you are from Jade Palace and you should not concern yourself with this city." said Shenlong, as jackal stepped forward, "You will stand before the court of our noble ruler and as for the two of you…" peacock threw scroll to Master Ox "…you can appeal the decision from the Emperor himself."

Masters look uneasy, "Are you going to stay here?"

"Absolutely not! I and my troops are going to go back, after we finish our business."

"Then you will not mind if we join you, because you are still going to the Emperor, aren't you?" said Ox.

After that peacock and bull stared at each other for some time.

Finally Shenlong smiled, "Of course you can come, I do not mind. As we say, the more people the more fun, isn't it?"

"It's not necessarily, if it's required by the Emperor, I will come willingly." said Master Shifu, when Jackal began putting chains on him.

"Whatever you say." Shenlong waved his wing, making it clear for his accompanying that the shackles to be redundant, "Now for work…"

After these words, peacock gave a cry and group of eagles landed from the sky.

"Everyone has a job. You know what should be done so start!" ordered the leader of the eagles.

Birds scattered in different directions.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on…" said peacock, leaving and making all remaining follow him.

**In Peking…**

"Let's be truthful. I like you. My spies have found enough information about you. I know what your life was, and to some extent, it's very similar to mine." said Lian without her playfulness.

"Is that so?" Shen asked in mockery surprise.

"On the day, when your fate was decided, you committed genocide of an entire species. What drive you to this: your lust for power that you were afraid to lose or fear for your life inherent in every living being? By the look of things to me, it's the latter."

After some silence Shen said, "My childhood wasn't the most pleasant. I grew almost alone. Parents never pay attention to me, as if I didn't try to get it. And when I heard that I was going to lose everything, when I am already had nothing, I was frightened."

"I always got enough attention, because I was an only child in the family. I was taught throughout early childhood. I always get what I wanted, until behaved appropriately: silent, when to be silent and speak, when to speak. I didn't have any friends, except for my family. Despite that I had all I could only dream of, I was unhappy. I was locked up in four walls and all I always wanted was…" Lian trailed off in thoughts.

"Freedom?" Shen said deeply immersed in his own thoughts.

"Yes, I always wanted only freedom and that is what the bitter truth is."

"I always wanted freedom too. Parents never understand me. I was always forced to dance to their tune." He unexpectedly admitted.

"There is a saying that the two broken souls can mend each other. Maybe fate is finally going to smile upon us. Let us help each other. Father is old and wants to retire, handing all the power to the next heir to the throne. It means that all of this will be mine. You want to get the China, then the best way is to be closer to the Empress."

"Are you saying what I am thinking?"

"A wedding. If we get married, you will be my husband and you will share my power. But this will have to wait, so the question is timing. After that, you will become the Emperor of China."


	3. The seed of understanding

**The seed of understanding**

"Let me guess, you want to gain the throne, not waiting for your father's departure. Are you want me to help you to dispose of him?" said Shen.

"No, where did you get such a terrible idea? I love my father very deeply. So, don't say such gruesome things anymore. Did I say something wrong to make such false impression? If so, then maybe you can explain it to me?" Lian asked him stunned.

After some uncomfortable silence, Shen finally answered Lian's question.

"Humph…" He snorted.

"Humph… that's it? That's all you can say? You know, what we need to do is to make you look in good light, especially with such look on the world and dissatisfaction that you are showing." Lian said in bemused tone.

"Are you saying that you understand my look on the world? That's interesting. By all means, surprise me." Shen said with mockery voice.

"Such people like you think that world must give you something for your experienced difficulties. Am I right?" She said with confidence.

"In some way you are. What the world has is rightfully mine. I'm deserve it." He said, lifting his head proudly.

"In truth, Shen, you really aren't. Our life is unfair, that's why we never get what we wanted. The fate always throws sticks at our feet. Our desires always disappoint us; for though we meet with something that gives us satisfaction, yet it never thoroughly answers our expectation. Remember, Shen, that there are two tragedies in our life. One is not get your heart's desire. The other is to get it." Peahen said in response to his statement.

"Here I must say that you as always right." Shen agreed with her, "Wise choice of words."

"I think it brings bad memories. Let's get this conversation for another time and eat for now. Our food is almost cool."

"Can't you call the servants that they warmed up this meal or brought a new one?" asked Shen slightly exasperated.

"Sorry, no time." Lian answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "You better hurry up. The day has just begun and I plan to enjoy it."

They ate their meals almost in silence, except for small talk about this and that.

"So, how are you feeling right now?" She asked a question, after they finished.

"I'm fine. What of it?" Shen said.

"Are you sure? Don't let your pride get the better of you." Lian insisted.

"I said I am alright." Peacock said a little angry.

"Well then, if you say so. I think it's time to stretch some muscles and to see how good you really are." Lian said with a mischief gleam in her eyes, "Come."

They rose from the table and went back into the hall, through which came here. She led him through the many hallways. He had not seen outside the palace, but was ready to swear that this place is just huge, because the entire path traversed by curled corridors resembled real labyrinth, in which you could easily get lost. In the end, they came to a large room that resembles something like the armory and place for training.

"Welcome to the training ground!" proclaim Lian, "Here is a great choice of weapons. You can choose whatever you like. Is there some kind of weapon you prefer?"

"Do you have a Guan Dao?" Shen said, looking at weapons, hanging on the walls around the room.

"Good choice. I must say you've got a style." Lian said, pointing to the curved blade with extending shaft, resembling a European flamberge, allowing wilder to use it as either a sword or lance.

Shen came up and took the sword. It was like his previous weapon except for some details and material from which it was made. Weapon has a black handle with gold thread; a red sash was attached at the joint of the pole and blade. The opposite end to the blade was decorated with a dragon's head ornament. He scrolled Guan Dao in his hands to check how good it really is.

"Not bad, isn't?" said Lian, moving away in the opposite direction and taking a weapon, which she like the most, "I prefer lances or some staffs too. I must be honest. I'm not very good with swords or some other kind of weapons."

In her hands was a wooden long stick, which she hid behind her back.

"So how about a training fight?" Peahen suggested.

"Are you going to fight me with this?" said Shen, gesturing to Lian's stick.

"You're still going to thank me that I did not take a real weapon." She said in self confident tone.

They stood in silence staring at each other. Then peacock smiled and attacked.

He swung and struck his spear, but to his amazement the girl quickly dodged his strike. Than Shen made a move to slash at Lian again, aiming for her right side, but to his surprise she easily dodged once again. Girl had good reflexes and was quick due to the fact that she was still young and light. After several attacks, his selfishness and intolerance began to get the better of him and he was getting angrier that he can't reach her. In his anger, he jumped at her thrusting his claws to grab her, but Lian saw its coming and ducked, allowing him safely fly over her and land. They simultaneously turned to each other. She was still in a crouching position, he straightened up waiting for the fact that she responded to him by attacking him in return. To his surprise, she bent down for some reason, even lower than she was, almost lying on her chest, but her left leg was stretched smoothly. She arched her back gracefully, bending. He saw that she smiled slightly and was mesmerized and didn't notice that her other leg is flying in his face. Soon he came out of his blank state and tried to defend himself, but it was too late. Her outstretched leg, like a fist, hit him right in the nose, from which he stepped back, clutching his face. Shen looked at her in shock. Lian stood erect in full growth, holding her head proudly.

"You let your anger outshine your mind, which makes you not careful." Lian said in scolding tone, "If you are not cautious it could end badly for you. Anger blows out the lantern of the mind."

"I must say I wasn't ready for this. I thought that you're the same as the other nobles: young and naive, you prefer when someone does the work for you, while you don't have to lift a finger. Looks like I was mistaken." Shen said rubbing his beak.

She smiled and beckoned him to come to her with her feathered finger, but he only frowned at that gesture.

Suddenly, Shen was racing toward her and then he spun around and used his train to knock into the back of Lian's ankles, trying to send her to the floor, but just like the last time she knew what is coming at her. She jumped on him, when he had attacked, and pushed off his back, pushing him forward onto the floor and doing a back flip. He stood up and began to stare at her. Hatred in his eyes.

She prepared to use her weapon, which she had been hiding behind her back all this time.

Shen assaulted her inflicting several blows with his Guan Dao, which were easily countered with peahen's wooden staff. Reflecting one of his punches she used the situation and counterattacked him. Clutching at one end of the stick and turning around, she struck him on the left cheek. He hissed in pain. Despite the fact that the strike was not of a real weapon, a trail of bloody scratch still remained. Even more angered by this, Shen attacked her with the blade of the sword with such force that it cut the stick in half. Now using her weapon as two swords, Lian attacked white bird, intending to finally finish that fight. She dodged his blow and hit his legs, knocking him out of his balance on the floor.

"I win!" Lian proclaimed, pointing wooden staffs at the peacock that lay on the floor, breathing heavily from the exhaustion of the fight, "Are you still alive, old man?"

"Don't push your luck, brat." He hissed.

She chuckled, but she had only to remove weapons from him as he immediately jumped up and knocked them out of her wings, surprising her. Then he tossed up his sword and grabbed her wings, he turned her around and pressed her to his chest, catching the sword in one wing and bringing blade of Guan Dao to her throat.

"You never should let your guard down and turn your back to the enemy." Shen almost purred with satisfaction in her ear.

"Oh really, but I thought you were my ally, not an enemy." Lian said, when she suddenly grabbed the back of his head, pressing his beak to the curve of her neck and giving him the opportunity to inhale the scent of her body, and rolled her hips, causing Shen to stumble away from her in surprise and making his mind go numb from such intimate and vulgar action. Then as soon as she wriggled free from his grip, she knocked him down and grabbed him by the throat with her talons, pressing him to the floor.

"What were you saying? Always be on caution." Peahen said, releasing and helping him to get up.

"Ah ha, that was a beautiful performance." Someone said, laughing and clapping.

Both birds looked back whence the sound comes.

There was a goat, with whom Lian talked yesterday, enjoying the view that erupted in front of him.

"Oh, good day to you, counselor." Lian said, referring to the goat.

"Good day to you as well, my lady." Goat said in returned, "I see you got on very well with your new friend."

"Lord Shen, let me introduce you to my personal adviser, Wénmíng (means "cultural"). Wénmíng, this is Lord Shen as your already know." Lian introduced them to each other.

"I welcome you, Lord Shen, in our humble abode. It's nice to finally meet you face to face." Wénmíng said, trying to be friendly to peacock.

"I greet you too, counselor Wénmíng." Shen said in formal tone, trying to look important in the presence of servant.

"I just wanted to say that our Emperor would like to meet with you in the evening, Lady Lian." Wénmíng said, bowing and leaving the two alone, "By the way, the sunny weather is today so you better go outside and enjoy the moment."

"Did you hear it? How about we get a little tour around the palace? I think it would be good for us to breathe some fresh air. Don't you think so?" Lian asked, carrying their weapons in places where they were taken.

Shen pondered over the offer. He hasn't seen the palace and surrounding vicinity so why not take advantage of the situation.

"Very well than, lead the way." He responded, when she came back to him.

"Good." Lian led him to the exit of the palace.

A few minutes later they came out into the courtyard.

Shen finally saw a palace outside. At first he didn't believe his eyes that this place would be that great, but now. It was much bigger than his tower. A huge tower comparable to the tower of Sacred Flame was standing in center of a huge structure which runs a lot of meters in length and width. A lot of constructions were around the building. Shen was shocked so much that his beak fell open.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" said Lian, looking at his dumbfounded expression, "Welcome to The Forbidden City. All this is the largest and most mysterious palace complex of the world. The royal complex, comparable in scale to the Palace of Versailles in France, occupies 72 hectares and consists of more than 800 buildings with 9,999 rooms. City surrounded by a ten-wall and a moat, which is called the "Golden Water". The place chosen for the construction in accordance with Feng Shui: the north building is surrounded by mountains, the entrance is oriented to the south, within the city is the river, gently envelope palaces, that belief of Feng Shui allows you to store energy. There is a legend that the design of the Forbidden City came in a dream to the monk. Then it was built and declared the center of the universe, from which the divine emperors can manage Middle Kingdom more effectively."

"Wow…" Shen said in astonishment amazed by the fact that he was honored to be in such a grand place.

"You see, Shen. I was not lying when I said that I can help you. You have nothing to fear, because you're safe here." She said, going to a nearby pond, and took the handkerchief, which she soaked in the same pond.

Lian came up to him with a wet handkerchief in her right wing. When she pulled her other wing to his face, he suddenly pulled away from her. But after seeing this she rushed to the front and gently grabbed his head.

"There is no need to be so jumpy." Peahen said with a slight smile, summing damp cloth to his left cheek and slowly wiping a trail of blood that remained after their training session, "Maybe you want to take a walk?"

All this time, Shen looked at her wing that was handling his scratch. His left eye twitched when he felt a searing touch of cold cloth to his wound.

"This place is so huge." Shen said, now looking into her blue eyes, "Could you give me a little guide about what I can see here?"

"The main entrance to the Forbidden City is located on the south side through midday save. The entire complex is divided into internal and external palaces. The main premise of the External palace, where the Emperor holds public meetings and ceremonies: Hall of Supreme Harmony, Complete Harmony and Preserving Harmony. The northern part, Inner Palace, take by concubines. There are halls of Heavenly Purity, Peace and Unification Earth tranquility. They are surrounded by three imperial gardens: Longevity, Compassion and Tranquility. They are elegant Imperial gardens with pergolas and picturesque rock formations. The whole town shared long central axis. In the center of this axis is the Throne, symbolizing the imperial power." Lian said, chuckling and removing the handkerchief, "We are in the center of Beijing, north of Tiananmen Square and the east of the Lake district. Through the capital is passed a huge variety of rare products from different countries thanks to our expanded international trade. So if you want we can take a look at the market."

"Did the Empress really drop so low that she should go for the goods herself?" Shen said with a sneer.

"Not quite. Sometimes it is useful to take a walk and to be shown to the eyes of people so that they know their rulers in the face." She said with a smirk.

"You seem to know this place very well, don't you?" asked Shen.

"Yes, I do. I grew up and spent most of my life here. I know this place as the back of my wing." Lian answered to Shen and then smiled, "Maybe if you weren't so neglected and selfish, you would not have seemed so pathetic jerk who lost everything that he could achieve and became miserable outcast from society."

With that said, the anger was starting to boil in Shen, "Carefully, dear, you mustn't speak like that with your future husband." These words he nearly growled to her.

"Oh? Husband, you say?" said Lian, smiling and coming closer to the peacock, "So you decided to accept my offer. After all I still haven't heard your answer."

"I think I don't have a choice, am I?" He said, starting to calm down.

"A choice is always there." Lian came too close to Shen by invading his personal space, "But I suggest to you the one from which you can't refuse."

Peahen put her wing to his cheek, which she ran over his neck and chest, and then she stopped there.

"Aren't you, sweetheart?" She said teasingly.

Shen suddenly grabbed her and held her in a crushing hug, which made her gasp, and began to rub against her neck with his face, breathing in her sweet scent.

"You better be more careful because your pestering can bring you to do something that you don't want. Your teasing can lead to something irreparable." Shen whispered to her ear, nuzzling her beautiful face.

"Maybe that is what I want." She nuzzled him as well.

Shen just wanted to scare the peahen to get her to leave him alone with her provocations but it looks like everything went in the opposite direction. He was about to let her go and move away, but the fact that he was so close to a female made his feet unwilling to move. As an adolescent and even a young adult he had become acquainted with many peahens, most of which had been asked to visit by his parents, who refuse to accept their son's red eyed tail was unattractive. Every time he tried to court one all he got was indifference or heartbreaking rejection. At first it bothered him to hear their gossips, to know they whispered "sick", "weird" and "bad omen" every time he turned his back. He grew to both love and hate the females of his kind. Their coldness and denial caused an insatiable curiosity. He wanted to know what was it that made him want to impress them, what made them so special, the secret of their intoxicating beauty. The absent of a partner had many times seared his heart, but Shen replaced it with his lust for power. And after the many years he spent in exile, keeping his nature asleep while he plotted his comeback, the chance to satisfy his curiosity and inner desires was finally there.

Lady Lian, on the other hand, had her share of love. She was considered a beautiful side and that had made her the apple of discord between many males. Her eyes had seen countless beautiful colors, tails so vivid and vibrant, with such indescribable designs that you could spent each day of your life watching and never tire. She had been courted in all possible ways. Her family had received uncountable gifts and bargains. Everyone wanted to be able to get acquainted with the heir to the throne and stay on her good side, as it presaged not only the mastery of the most excellent creation but also the power of controlling the entire country. Her father, overprotective and oppressive, had never agreed to one of them and rarely let her walk amongst males, claiming her knew their "devious and treacherous nature", or even beyond her home. But Lian was not interested in then anyway. Not showing interest in it, she is always engaged in the affairs of the state, thinking only of the welfare of the country. Father loved her and never made her do things that she doesn't wish.

Shen struggled with his instincts to unfold his tail feathers that began to wake up in him because of such close contact with girl and her willingness to be with him. He didn't quite understand why she wants him to be close to her. Can it all be because of his weapons or talents to experimentation with powder? Can it all be because she just wants to laugh at him, while helping him at the same moment, and at the crucial moment finally destroy all his hopes, or maybe she is really as lonely as says and just wants to be with someone who can understand her? In his head flew a lot of thought and at some point he simple doesn't care what it would be. Something inside him was simply saying to be with her. He didn't know where it will lead him. It was like to walk in the darkness without light, to go to the unknown. Then it made him wonder. He was always thinking what the fate would have been if he had not learned of his future and just went on with his life in…an unknown direction. Maybe he should have just let everything take its course? Or…

"Maybe we have to let it guide us?" Shen muttered to himself but it seems Lian heard him.

"Hmm?" She pulled away and looked at him questioningly.

Shen looked at the young girl. What does make him trust her? Is it his male nature which fell to her feminine charm? Is it his lust for her power? Is it her childish playfulness which he lacked in childhood? Or is it her innocent look in her shining eyes and her lovely smile? And yet is it her strength and intelligent that she hides under the guise of child's helplessness?

"I know you just one day…but after all these talks I have a feeling that…I don't know…" he hesitated out of nervousness that he was feeling.

"What?" Lian encouraged him to continue.

"As if I've known you all my life." Shen said at last.

"Well this is the beginning. Finally we began to understand each other." Lian smiled triumphantly.

After this conversation, she led him to the palace grounds. Shen ceased to feel shackled around Lian and began to the talk to her more openly. Telling the story of his life, he was sometimes even trying to embellish them as if to look proudly in her eyes. They talked about many things and haven't noticed that it's already started to darken.

"Well looks like it's time to go back inside." Lian said taking out and ranging the little bell.

"You know, I noticed that we were here all alone. Besides the guards at the gate there's no one else. What are you going to do if someone will attack such an important person as you are?" Shen said, out of curiosity.

"This is unlikely to happen. You see, the palace is closed for ordinary citizens. All those who dare to break this rule, waiting for death. Even every courtier is of noble family. So you have nothing to fear." Footsteps were heard and a moment later they were approached by a servant, whom Shen had seen after waking up.

"Is everything ready?" Lian asked the one who approached.

"Yes, my lady. Exactly as you said." Delun reported.

"Well, I need to go to see my father. I think today we have each other pretty bored with our conversation. Delun will take you to your new room, which by the way offers a great view from the windows. See you tomorrow Shen. And good dreams to you." Lian said bidding farewell to him.

"Good dreams to you too, Lian." Shen said and then a little resolutely went to Liana, took her wings and kissed her. Their beaks touched in a kiss against the setting sun. After they withdrew from each other, Shen held her a little more and then let go. He wanted to say something else but decided not to. He went to the servant but stopped when he was hailed.

"Shen!" Lian cried and Shen looked at her, "You'll see that everything will be fine. I promise."

"Don't you know that the one who promises runs in debt?" Shen truly smiled at her words that she wanted to cheer him up and continued on his way.

"Speak not of my debts unless you mean to pay them." He heard her answer, "Everything will be fine."

"It should be." Peahen muttered to herself and then went to meet with her father before going to sleep.

**Somewhere in the palace…**

Dark room was furnished with lots of candles. Smoke was coming from those candles that were extinguished and filled the room with its intoxicating smell. Some herbs were scattered on the floor whose burning caused the maddening smell. With shaking hands, a being, sitting in the center of the room, was milling burning grass in a wooden bowl. After that was done, it has brought a steaming cup to its nose and inhaled deeply poisonous flavor, as a dependent addict get the expected dose of drugs. Its pale eyes, like in haze, opened.

"We make our own fortunes and we call them fate. There is no good arguing with the inevitable. A man snatches the first kiss, pleads for the second, demands the third, takes the fourth, accepts the fifth - and endures all the rest. There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it. Kindness in words creates confidence; kindness in thinking creates profoundness; kindness in giving creates love. Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. Love is to love someone for who they are, who they were, and who they will be. Where there is love there is life." It spoke in full delirium, "Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life. The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance, the last half consists of the chance without the capacity."

After one more inhalation it's continued by saying the last three words, "It has begun."


	4. The seed of dishonor

**The seed of dishonor**

**In the old village of pandas, near Gongmen…**

"We can't waste our time any longer. We need to go to the Valley of Peace." said an irritated feline.

"Guys! I still can't find Crane anywhere. What if something bad had happened to him?" Viper cried to the five remaining warriors.

"I understand, but the main thing now is to break away from these supposedly "servants of the Emperor" and find a safe place, where we can rest and develop a further plan of actions." Tigress said it in such a firm tone that it was immediately clear that no arguments would be heard.

"What about Master Shifu?" Snake was not appeased.

"Master isn't easy to win. He'll handle this and certainly know we hide in a safe place." Tigress insisted, trying to appease the angry snake.

"But we can't just leave them! We have to..." Viper just started talking, when Tigress interrupted her.

"I have already told you to leave it. We gotta go and it's not discussed." she said in exasperation that made the snake to become silence.

"When we get to the Valley, where we will go?" Po spoke up, breaking this awkward silence.

"In Jade Palace, where else?" said Tigress, not giving this idea a lot of thought.

"I still can't believe that they were stronger than we. They could beat us without any effort. Have you seen that guy?" Po began to mumble, while all the masters of Kung Fu gathered in the way back home, "How such a thing could be?"

"Yeah, who he was?" added Monkey irritably.

Fighters hit the road in complete silence, gathering their thoughts and thinking about the battle that occurred.

_**Flashback…**_

"_Go."_

_After this one word all hell broke loose, when soldiers attacked six Kung Fu masters. Guards crushed everything on its way. The battle was fierce, unlike previous battles there was such impression that the enemy already knew what to expect. They were strong and held samurai swords very skillfully. When they attacked, it was immediately obvious that they seek only to kill them and aren't going to show any mercy, especially take prisoners alive. After the battle began, the screams of frightened passers, who began to scatter in different directions in a safe place to hide, immediately were heard. The guards themselves didn't restrain and destroyed everything around them._ _Chaos erupted: fragments of different benches, shops and other things flew in all directions. Kung Fu masters fought with the imperial guards as they could, and even began to triumph. Up to the moment until a lone warrior in gold armor, standing not far from them silent as a statue, intervened in fight. _

_Viper knocked masked wolves off their feet. When she jumped on the next victim, suddenly someone grabbed her in the air and threw her into the counter standing nearby._

_Mantis threw samurais in different directions and broke their weapons. Despite the fact that their blades were strong, they gradually fall apart after a few bug's blows. Suddenly he heard something slammed against the wooden store very hard. When he turned toward the sound, he saw Viper in the wooden rubbles. This moment of his confusion served as a pretext for his enemy to attack him. One wolf kicked the insect and while he was recovering from a blow in flight, jackal suddenly appeared out of nowhere and with a roundhouse kicked beetle aside. Viper just got out of the wreckage when suddenly Mantis flew into her face, sending them both back to a bunch of garbage._

_Seeing this Tigress punched the wolf, which attacked her, and rushed to the jackal. With a roar she jumped on him, knocking him to the ground. Jackal was lying on the ground and tiger was on top of him. After that she stabbed him in the face but he blocked it. Then he grabbed her paws with his own and wrapped his legs around her waist. The situation would be laughable and ambiguous if he hadn't turned them around, grabbing her paws in one of his and holding up his other hand ready to strike. Tigress arched her head to the side to dodge the blow and then bent slightly to release from the jackal, and, drawing her knees to her chest, punched a dog in the face with a strong blow of her legs. Although he only recoiled a little back, releasing her hands. Jackal was about to pounce on her again, when suddenly another blow connected with his head._

_Monkey punched jackal, throwing him back. Then he helped Tigress to stand up and together they attacked their enemy. But the jackal didn't lose it. He quickly rose up, reflecting the impact of Tigress attack, and grabbed an ape's hand, and then he turned around and grabbed the female tiger's hand, wringing and twisted their hands, he threw them into the same heap as the other two of their friends._

_Jackal looked at the panda almost directly in front of him that fought with the wolves. Standing on all fours, he ran to him as fast as he could. Po dodged strikes of three wolves with difficulty_ _as they attacked almost simultaneously by different beats trying to attack from different angles to catch him off guard, but he had only to relax as wolves suddenly stopped and looked back. He was even more puzzled when they squatted on all fours in front of him._

"_What's the matter? Scared of the mighty power of the Dragon Warrior?" Po began to say, thinking that the wolves were surrendering, "You don't need to bow down-"_

_He faltered when he saw someone, behind the crouching wolves, rushes to him at full speed. Po had only to raise his hands to cover his face, when jackal ran on the backs of wolves and jumped, causing the same impact as Tigress and sending panda to his friends. Only four warriors have begun to rebound as suddenly they were knocked back by their bearish friend, slamming them all in a wooden shop behind their backs. A roof of which collapsed on them._

_With a corner of his eye a jackal saw someone's shadowy silhouette in the sky. He turned his head slightly and his eyes moved to the edge of the eye socket so he could see what was happening there. A moment later, two figures came down from the sky. Narrowing his eyes, he saw that it was their falcons. It looks like they caught that bird that was with these four imbeciles. Something like a smirk appeared on his snout. However, this smirk turned into a scowl as he turned and saw that the masters were escaping and the wolves were chasing them. When four animals ran outside the city wolves stopped following them and looked at the jackal waiting for his decision. _

"_Once sent someone like us then they have no chance, and sooner or later they will be caught. There's no place in whole China where they could hide." thought leader of the group, "Lady Lian will be sure of it…"_

_Jackal hemmed, going back into the marquee that was not touched by anyone, and passionately waited for his master to return. Wolves followed his example, helping their comrades. _

_**End of Flashback…**_

So they walked under cover of night, thinking about their defeat and what they are going to do now. After all, if the Emperor really has stated them as enemies of the Empire, they will be on the wanted list. The entire country will be wary of them. They will be the ones with whom they were fighting all this time…criminals, murderers, robbers and other bad people who committed many evil deeds. Who could stoop so low to denigrate and disgrace them?

Po sighed as he walked, "And after the day started so well…"

**Somewhere on the way to Beijing…**

Breaking dawn has begun.

On the horizon, the sun began to rise dispelling the gloomy darkness and lighting up the sailing ship. It was one of the dragons of the sea. Those, who met the sea dragons, admired and shacked from the grandeur of this maritime armada. In terror fishermen hastily turned the boats. Strange sight appeared before them. Skyline trembled, and distal margin of the sea became covered by countless sails. That's already a huge wall they ascended, and the wall that was rolled ashore. It was impossible to get through it, pass it. Hardly moored, confused natives dropped their frail craft and rushed helter-skelter in a nearby safe place. On the deserted coastal sand lay a huge shadow. Unprecedented armada ever came to the coast. All who saw this spectacle could not even believe in the existence of such greatness. It was the most magnificent, the most beautiful, and the most powerful ships.

Sailing ship was huge. Nine masts towered on it. With its armored nose it could ram and sink enemy ships. The ships of this type had four decks. At the bottom was placed ballast, tinted the stability of the vessel; above was the living deck. Being on the third deck, the sailors were managed with deep red sails of color of blood. Finally, on the upper deck was free space for something. Ship was teeming with security. Although they were not so much as the first time when they sailed as half of the wolves had to stay in Gongmen City.

At the moment in the captain's cabin, Shenlong was pondering about the upcoming meeting with his mistress. His two jackals, his lackeys, his bodyguards stood at the door of his cabin, silently watching their lord. Sitting at the table on which was laid a bunch of some drawings, he thought about how his noble lady will be pleased and happy to learn that he had fulfilled her task.

"Even though we had a small problem, everything is going according to the plan." thought Shenlong, recalling his meeting with the wolves.

_**Flashback…**_

_Peacock with his attendants came to the tent and wasn't happy with what he had saw. _

_A real chaos was around. Debris of various structures and items were lying on the ground. Soldier doesn't look good too as they were received enough in their fight against Kung Fu warriors._

"_What the hell is this?" shouted Shenlong, looking at the pitiful sight of the Royal Guard and not seeing the prisoners or at least their bodies, "What has happened here? Where are the fighters, who were taken captives?"_

_Some soldier came up to him and said that the masters ran away. Peafowl wasn't satisfied with this answer. With unhappy snarl on his face, he went into the tent waving his wing towards the wolf, who brought him unpleasant news. Peacock's bodyguard came to the imperial samurai and grabbed his head._

_SNAP!_

_Kung Fu masters, going before that behind henchmen of the Emperor, stopped in their steps at the sharp cracking sound of broken bones. Looking ahead, they saw a jackal, departing, as if nothing had happened, from the immobile body of the lying wolf whose neck was snapped. They were overwhelmed by such action and the fact that everyone continue to behave as if nothing had happened. _

"_So that's how important persons of the Emperor solve all their things, which they don't like." Ox said warily, looking at Shenlong's back with accusing glance._

"_Well at least my disciples fled." said Master Shifu, feeling relieved at heart._

"_On your place, I wouldn't act as reassuring about them." came Shenlong's voice, "They are enemies of the state. And the times are such that even the closest people can't trust each other, isn't it?"_

_After these words, a bird with a victorious smile on his beak disappeared along with his faithful ward behind the curtain of the marquee._

_He frowned and wanted to say something else, but suddenly behind him someone pushed him as well as the other masters forward. Wolves hurried them as their master was about to leave. Holding up the tent wolves carried him accompanied by masters to the port where the docked ship was waiting for them._

_**End of Flashback…**_

"Damn scums." Shenlong thought, remembering Kung Fu masters, "Why can't everyone just go and die? And what to do with Shen?"

His last thoughts were about white peacock who recently settled in the palace and in due time gave quite a stir.

"Have you seen this Shen?" He asked his bodyguards who kept silent and didn't answer him, "What did she see in him? He's only wasting our time."

Then his thoughts reverted to the goddess of his mind that he admired more than life. The one in which he is willing to put all his faith.

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals herself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind." He said, referring to that for which he is willing to do anything, "I'm not saying that befits a man to be insane. But sometimes, for the sake of a fiery woman and noble dreams, can be burnt whole cities."

Meanwhile, in the hold of a ship masters were discussing what actions they should take.

"All this is very strange, why would Emperor so suddenly takes off and do things for city? Something is wrong here." said Master Ox

"Also we have stated as enemies." added Croc to his friend's statement.

"I have such feeling as if it's definitively planned. It looks like someone really doesn't like us." Shifu got in conversation.

"Someone set us up." Ox concluded in the end.

**In Valley of Peace…**

Fighters only started coming to the entrance of the Valley, when suddenly beside them, a rustle came from bushes. They were on the alert and prepared for the worst.

A moment later bird jumped out of the bushes right at them.

**In the Forbidden City…**

"Everything went well, I suppose." Someone hissed, referring to the girl.

"Don't worry, Doctor Rushifa. Everything is in order." Lian said to the scaly lizard, "By the way, where a detachment that I sent to Gongmen? The whole day has already passed."

"Surely they'll be here in a few moments." Dr. Rushifa said with some smugness in his voice.

"I hope on this for our sake." Lian answered, "And now if you'll forgive me I have to take care of our guest. I hope he isn't bored without me."

"You can always take him to some sort of concubine if he is."

"Ha ha, very funny." It was Lian's bemused reply.

When she left a voice of figure with glowing red eyes came, "For our sake, you say? Is this a worry for our lives? Hmm… How amusing. Our whole essence is a mind game. Not the power to remember, but its very opposite, the power to forget, is a necessary condition for our existence."

A/N: Rushifa belongs to skitzopheliac. Image of the character is taken from deviantart


End file.
